‘Putin’: Looming wedge with Trump White House

The war in Ukraine must end with a “just peace” and not with an “empowered” Vladimir Putin, the opposition foreign affairs spokesman says, foreshadowing yet another clash of worldviews with the incoming US administration.

Donald Trump has said he would end the conflict within 24 hours.

But there are concerns a Trump peace plan would force Ukraine to yield swathes of its territory to invading Russia.

Simon Birmingham said on Wednesday a just ending to the war was “one where Ukrainians feel safe and secure in their sovereignty”.

“It’s one where Vladimir Putin does not feel empowered to repeat in a few years’ time what he has done over the last couple of years,” Senator Birmingham told the National Press Club.

“So how that is secured is obviously something that needs to respect the views of the Ukrainian people and ultimately put their safety at the forefront of those discussions.

“Now, I don’t think I can be any more upfront than, in these days still after President Trump’s election to a second term, to be openly canvassing that.”

Both the Albanese government and the Coalition have reacted to Mr Trump’s election win last week with cautious but optimistic messaging.

Mr Trump’s America first rhetoric has sparked uncertainty around the US’s commitment to international trade and security.

Ukraine has bipartisan support in Canberra, with Australia contributing around $1.5bn worth of aid to Kyiv’s efforts to push Russian forces out of its territory.

Senator Birmingham said “we all want to see peace” and that there were “areas in which Donald Trump as a disrupter may actually be able to get breakthroughs.”

“So we have to hope that we can see if there is to be a peace, it is one that stands the test of time in the years ahead and gives Ukrainians those opportunities,” he said.

“And they’re the benchmarks that we’re outlining and of course they’re the benchmarks my comments will be held against in the”

Asked what the Coalition would do if it disagreed with Mr Trump on Ukraine, Senator Birmingham said he “would expect what I’ve said right now to be replayed and reflected back”.

He said the Coalition’s position was not to “oppose the instinct of President Trump to try to find a way to peace.”

“But what that pathway is matters enormously, not just to the Ukrainian people, but to what it sends as a signal to Russia, to China, and to others around the rest of the world about what aggression can yield and where lines will be drawn,” Senator Birmingham said.

“And we need those lines to be drawn in a way that deters future aggression, rather than increases the risk of it.”

More than 6.1 million Ukrainians have sought refuge outside of their homeland since Russia’s invasion in February 2022.

Nearly 12,000 civilians have been killed and some 26,000 more injured.

Moscow’s war against its smaller neighbour has had far-reaching consequences.

The conflict has pushed up the fuel and energy prices and restricted Ukrainian grain from reaching countries that critically need it.

It has also prompted nuclear fears, with multiple atomic power plants in the firing line and the Russian president casually hinting he would use nuclear warheads.

With Russia reportedly using North Korean troops to bolster its depleting force numbers, analysts have warned the conflict could expand.